Chapter 326: Cannot Be Separated From the People

After hearing what Zhao Jun and Jia Changchao said, Cao Xiu and others realized the seriousness of the matter and started a thorough investigation almost the same day.

Fan Zhongyan accepted Zhao Zhen's order and took charge of the entire investigation.

That night, countless imperial guards and soldiers were transferred to Fengqiu and took control of the county government and government offices. Then, under the guidance of local subordinates, they searched house to house.

The next day, in just one day, most of the gangsters who intercepted Zhao Jun's motorcade were captured.

Fortunately, it is now approaching the New Year, and most of the river workers who repair the river have gone back to celebrate the New Year. Otherwise, it would be really difficult to find these people if they hid in a team of more than 100,000 civilians.

After a quick interrogation, it was revealed that most of these people were local laborers hired to build rivers.

Because the imperial court has vigorously rectified the Yellow River and repaired its canals in recent years, more than 400,000 people gathered along the Yellow River.

Especially the canal construction work from Kaifeng to Huazhou, because it is to open a new canal, requires much more manpower than repairing and strengthening the previous river.

The imperial court of the Song Dynasty treated the people who built the river well. Not only did they provide food and housing, but they also received a daily salary of more than 150 yuan for digging ditches. The income was relatively high among local prefectures and counties.

After these people made money, they were bound to spend money in cities along the line such as Fengqiu, Changyuan, Xucheng, and Huazhou. This led to the creation of a large number of brothels, taverns, gambling houses, and restaurants in the cities along the line, attracting many people.

So what happens when so many social idlers gather?

Naturally, there were fights.

And if you want to open a brothel, tavern, gambling house or restaurant, you must have a black and white background.

Therefore, many people began to gather together for warmth, forming many forces, large and small, and social instability was born.

Among the people who robbed Zhao Jun's motorcade were local evil gangs. Most of their members were Fengqiu locals and formed a social gang called Fengqiu Dagger Club.

They used to build canals by the river, but later found that the money for the canals was too slow to come in. They slowly opened the market to fight, bully the market, extort farmers, rape women, and rob passing merchants. It can be said that they did all kinds of evil.

Under the leadership of their leader, the gang became more and more powerful, and gradually became the largest evil force in Fengqiu, with more than 50 core members and more than 400 total members.

However, after investigation by the Yushitai and the Imperial City Department, it was found that the protective umbrella behind the situation was not even the county magistrate or the county magistrate, but the Fengqiu County Lieutenant and many of the government officials below.

But the people responsible for Fengqiu were obviously unlucky.

Although the most important objective factor they were unaware of was the sudden influx of a large population in the local area, which caused management difficulties.

However, it was also a major lack of responsibility to allow the Dagger Club to grow rapidly and not discover it in time.

Therefore, all local officials who were not involved in the case were beaten to the end. Regardless of whether they had political resources or not, they all went home to plant sweet potatoes. As for the officials involved in the case, they will be punished with the same crime.

Under special circumstances, more than 400 people were arrested in less than five days, and the rest of the local evil forces were also wiped out.

"It's ironic that a mere eighth-grade county captain can allow such a huge evil force to cover the sky with just one hand."

December 28th is the last office day of the year.

In the Constitutional Yuan, Zhao Jun was signing documents on the special work to be carried out by the Police Department and the Imperial City Department to combat gangs and evil across the country next year.

After he signed, Du Yan, Zheng Jian, Fu Bi, Cao Xiu and others sent over the investigation report.

After Zhao Jun saw it, he sneered: "Although I personally dealt with the evil forces such as Wuyou Cave and Guifan Tower at the foot of the emperor before, I thought that the large scale had been eliminated, but I didn't expect that in just a few years, It started to grow again.”

As he spoke, he signed the document in his hand and signaled that all the approximately 1,000 people captured by the evil gang would be executed. Then he raised his head and looked at Fu Bi and said, "Where did their firearms come from?"

"It was stolen."

Fu Bi smiled bitterly and said: "Didn't the imperial court have a firearms military camp in the northern suburbs of the city before? The management was not so strict at that time. They were not locked in the armory uniformly, but locked in the squad room according to squad units. They stole ten Multiple muskets and more than 500 rounds of ammunition.”

"Where is the person responsible?"

Zhao Jun frowned. He must be responsible for the things being stolen. First of all, the camp was not well guarded, and people actually stole it into the military camp. Secondly, it was such a big deal that the gun was stolen, but it was not reported.

Fu Bi said: "We have caught it. The soldiers in those three squads reported it to the battalion commander, but the commander was afraid of taking responsibility, so he hid it and reported the firearms as damaged. The originally damaged firearms were to be returned to the logistics department. , but he bribed the quartermaster and kept it secret. "

"Hmph, it would be a shame for those who deceive others and cause such serious consequences to die!"

Zhao Jun snorted coldly, then thought for a while and then said: "Since the soldiers reported it, it is not their responsibility. The defense of the military camp is loose, and all those involved will be removed. As for the officers who deceived the superiors and concealed the truth, they will be dealt with according to military law."

"yes."

Fu Bi responded.

"The local Imperial City Department turned a blind eye, so what use are they? From the Imperial City Department in Fengqiu County to the commanders and guards, all of them were sentenced to jail for dereliction of duty!"

Zhao Jun said again.

"yes."

Cao Xiu hurriedly agreed.

"And the censor who patrols north Beijing will be demoted to three levels."

"yes."

"The problem with Gyeonggi Road is that the local counties are directly under the imperial court. There is no state government supervision above them, and the Kaifeng government cannot control them. There is a missing layer of supervision. This is an oversight by me and the Constitutional Yuan."

Zhao Jun rubbed his temples with both hands and said: "I will re-determine the supervision responsibilities of each county in Gyeonggi Road in the future. The supervision must be in place. You go."

"yes."

Several people left the Constitutional Yuan.

Not long after they left, it was the last regular meeting of the Constitutional Yuan of the year.

In fact, basically everything that needs to be said has been said.

This meeting is about some trivial matters for the coming of the new year, such as this year's Bianliang event, the palace dinner, and the welfare of officials.

Everyone in the conference room had talked about the trivial matters. Lu Yijian glanced around and said, "Do you have anything else to add? If not, then this is the arrangement for the end of this year, and the meeting should be dismissed."

"etc."

At this time, Zhao Jun suddenly said: "I have something more important to say."

"What's the matter?"

Everyone sat around the conference table and turned to look at Zhao Jun in confusion.

Zhao Jun looked around at the crowd, knocked on the table and said: "This matter is about public security and criminal punishment. I think the Constitutional Yuan should probably take this issue seriously."

"But Hanlong, didn't you say that the priority of this matter should be lower than the national development focus?"

Yan Shu wondered: "Now that the Song Dynasty has made rapid progress and productivity has increased, the people across the country have more food and are well fed and clothed. Isn't this more important?"

"Yes, this matter is indeed the most important. But what I mean is that there is no need to rise to the official side. The Constitutional Yuan still has to care about public security and criminal punishment issues."

Zhao Jun said calmly: "We cannot ignore the feelings of individuals just because we only care about the development of the general direction. Moreover, these individuals are not a small number. They add up to a huge number. This is an important group of people that we cannot ignore."

"The most important thing is that if we don't care now, there will be more similar problems in the future. For example, next year we will open a large number of iron ore and coal mines and enter the era of large-scale steelmaking. Then there will inevitably be iron tyrants in the future. , coal tyrants, and real estate monopolize industries through violence.”

As he spoke, he suddenly laughed, turned his head and looked at the people on both sides and said: "I remember that in ancient times, septic tanks needed to be cleaned and taken out to the city for farmers to farm, so there has always been a manure picker in ancient times. And. Some lawless people took control of this industry and became the biggest dung tyrant in the Southern Song Dynasty. "

"Forehead"

Everyone looked at each other, thinking that besides being a traitor to the country, Wan Yangou actually had this hobby?

It’s truly a story for the ages.

"But these matters are naturally handled by local governments. There are so many things across the country. If the Constitutional Yuan is involved in everything, then we prime ministers will not be able to do it even if they are divided into eight parts."

Lu Yijian spread his hands and said.

This is the truth.

Zhao Jun shook his head and said, "You still don't understand the core problem."

"What's the problem?"

"It's just that we ignored the people."

"You mean, we need to listen to what the people have to say?"

Wang Zeng said.

"good."

Zhao Jun nodded: "How far are the people from us? Do you think that above the common people is the county government, which is the county magistrate? Above the county magistrate is the state government, which is the magistrate? Above the magistrate is the road platform, which is the transfer envoy? Wrong."

He tapped the table with his index finger and said, "What a big mistake!"

"On a daily basis, it is impossible for ordinary people to see county magistrates. Village chiefs and township officials may be the biggest officials they have ever seen in their lives. Although county magistrates still have the opportunity to contact the state government, they can't do it layer by layer. , The gap is like a mountain."

"You don't know that in our later generations, there are several TV dramas about fighting gangs and evil, and fighting corruption and upholding integrity, which are called "Hurious", "Anti-Gang Storm" and "In the Name of the People".

"Among these TV series, the evil forces in "Hurry Up" are just dominating a city, and the protective umbrella behind them is just a city hall."

"And in "Anti-Gangster", the protective umbrella behind it is just a deputy province. Except for "In the Name of the People", which involves the provincial level, for many evil forces below, the protective umbrella is at the county level and city hall level. between."

"You should also know by now that in the administrative planning of the Song Dynasty, a state is basically equivalent to a city in our later generations, and a road is basically equivalent to a province in our later generations."

"In other words, if it corresponds to our Song Dynasty, a few officials in the county have complete control over the life and death of the people in the county. A few officials in the state can support a tyrannical force entrenched in the state capital. The evil forces use this to exploit, abuse, and harshly treat the people."

"Although after the independence of the Public Security Bureau, it is difficult for officials to find out. But if they abuse their power and help criminals cover up their crimes, it is very easy."

"So they just changed a way to oppress the people. Why do we say that in ancient times, there were county magistrates who destroyed families and governors who destroyed families? It's because the people's voices were muffled by them, and their evil deeds were surrounded by layers. Let us People above can’t see what’s going on below.”

"Maybe you would say there is a lot of regulation now."

"But whether it is the Yushitai or the Imperial City Department, there are times when they neglect their duties, are perfunctory, or even simply join in with them, collude with them, and have officials protect each other."

"We cannot ignore the voice of every citizen, nor can we hope that all crimes will appear in front of me openly like they did a few days ago."

"Because by that time, the evil forces have basically grown stronger, and countless innocent people have been violently coerced and humiliated by them."

"In that case, even if the court discovers this behavior in the future and responds immediately, it will only be regarded as delayed justice."

"So in order to prevent the slightest change, we must increase supervision. In addition to the supervision of the Yushitai, the Imperial City Department and the local government, we also need to provide people with channels for appeal and specialized personnel to connect them. Not only the people, but also Many officials who have righteous hearts must also be given the power to directly hear from heaven.”

Zhao Jun finally said: "Although this may not completely solve the problem, at least the people have a place to redress their grievances. I believe it can greatly improve the current dilemma of having no way to redress their grievances."

The imperial court of the Song Dynasty seemed very close to the people of the Song Dynasty, but in fact it was still too far away.

If the people are bullied by the evil forces, in the era of underdeveloped transportation, once the county captain in charge of this county does nothing, or even acts as the backend of the evil forces, then the people basically have no right to appeal, but because There is no way to ask for help.

Although the Imperial City Secretary and the Censor existed, like Fengqiu, the Imperial City Secretary neglected his duties, and the Censor's Office was mainly focused on the river construction project. When there were more people, there was chaos, and the local magistrates and magistrates did not do their job. , so that evil forces have grown, and no one knows how many people have become victims.

If Zhao Jun hadn't encountered these evil forces on his way to patrol the Yellow River, I'm afraid they wouldn't know how long they would have to stay here and how many people they would harm before they could be uprooted.

Therefore, Zhao Jun believes that the Constitutional Yuan has ignored the people at the bottom.

In other words, the ancient feudal dynasties basically did not take root among the masses and went deep into the grassroots people.

For this reason, he must, like later generations, give the people a channel to speak out, give the people a soil to listen to, and let these high-ranking prime ministers listen to the people's voices. Only in this way can they truly govern the people and the country well. .

Everyone looked at each other after hearing this. This suggestion did not harm their interests. And this is what Zhao Jun meant, so they naturally have no reason to object.

So after thinking for a while, Yan Shu asked: "Then what kind of department should be established and what positions should be set up?"

"In this way, let's go one level at a time. Let's first set up a national inspection team of the Song Dynasty."

Zhao Jun thought for a while and said: "In the past, before promotion, the ministers and ministers of various departments were sent to the four capitals to serve as prefects. This has almost become a common practice, so that the magistrates of each prefecture have become the chief officials. This must be No. In the future, when a road-level official with meritorious service is promoted, he will be appointed as the leader of the inspection team, which is half a level higher than the transportation envoy of each road. He will be stationed in the road every year to monitor the situation in each place. "

The official system of the Song Dynasty was somewhat similar to that of later generations, but it was also different.

Later generations were basically divided into township level, county level, city hall level, senior officials and national level. However, in the Song Dynasty, in addition to the divisions of counties, states, roads and courts, there were also various ministerial levels in between.

To put it simply, in later generations, a province was at the same level as the ministries, but the chief officials along the Song Dynasty were not at the same level as the ministries.

For example, under normal circumstances, except for the temporarily established third-grade economic envoys along the way, the other traditional chief officers of the four departments, such as the Transport Department, the Appeasement Department, the Xing Prison Department, and the Changping Department, are all the fourth-grade officials.

At the ministries level of the central government, the chief officials of the thirteen first-level agencies under the Constitutional Yuan are all second-rank officials who are candidates for the Constitutional Yuan. The chief officials of the second-level institutions are the third-rank officials of ordinary ministries. Officials are on the same level as the chief officials in each department.

Therefore, there is a situation where high-ranking officials are not of equal rank. For example, the rank of Xia Song, the Minister of Finance, must be much higher than that of Yang Cha, the transfer envoy of Guangnan West Road.

In the past, the selection of assistant ministers in various departments was mostly done among the lower-level agencies of the imperial court and the chief officials of the four divisions. However, there was usually a transition in the middle. This transitional position was the fourth rank of Kaifeng, Yingtian, Henan, and Daming. Yin of the capital.

Zhao Jun was planning to improve the status of the four capitals and elevate these governors of the four capitals to the second rank. Then he would simply go with the flow and break the transitional convention and let these personnel who were promoted due to their outstanding political performance go to inspect the local areas.

In this way, they have become the eyes of the Constitutional Yuan, replacing the Constitutional Yuan and entering the private sector, allowing the people to have a channel to appeal to them.

"But if the country is so big, how many problems can be solved even if a large number of imperial officials are sent out every year?"

Wang Zeng objected.

"So we still need to increase the communication channels between subordinates and superiors."

Zhao Jun thought about it, and then said: "Starting next year, it will be time to establish a national postal channel. In the future, every county, state, and road will establish a post office. Then set up reporting boxes, establish reporting agencies at all levels, and cooperate with the Imperial City Department, Jointly supervised by Yushitai.”

"Well"

Everyone looked at each other, Fan Zhongyan nodded slightly and said: "I think it's okay. This way, there will be multiple channels for the people to report, and we won't be like now, like the deaf or the blind, unable to see the situation among the people."

"In addition to official supervision agencies, private supervision is also indispensable. Next year we will open up private newspapers, allow the media to conduct supervision, and encourage front-line investigative reporters to search for evidence."

Zhao Jun continued: "With this multi-faceted approach, if local evil forces appear in the future, it won't take so long to be discovered."

Evil forces are like a cancer that takes root in the people.

But the Constitutional Court is too high up and too far away from the people.

So it is necessary to provide communication channels for the people, so that they can report the evil forces in the people to the court.

This is also done in later generations. In villages, counties and cities, various banners to combat evil elements always remind people how determined our country is to eliminate evil.

As a good young man in the new era, Zhao Jun naturally cannot ignore the increasingly rampant evil forces in the people of the Song Dynasty.

So he decided to copy the homework of later generations.

Communicate with the people, hoping that the people will tell the court where the evil forces are and who are the evil elements.

After all, as the people, the first target of the evil forces is them.

Who is the evil force and who has violently coerced them is clearer than the victims.

So this time, he wants to fight against evil in an all-round way, and make sure that before the Song Dynasty fully enters the industrial age, the people will be in peace and harmony!